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July 09, 2011

Mysore, July 7 (IANS) Even as English and modern Indian language newspapers continue to flourish in the country, Sudharma, which claims to be the only Sanskrit newspaper in the world, is struggling hard to survive as it enters its 42nd year next week.

"That's because no state or central body comes forward to assist us in any way and the response from various organisations in the private sector is indifferent," K.V. Sampath Kumar, editor of the Mysore-based daily that has over 2,000 subscribers, told IANS.

But then why publish a paper in a "dead language" at all?

The editor's wife, Jayalakshmi, who is well versed in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, English and of course Sanskrit, reacts sharply: "Who says Sanskrit is dead? Every morning, people recite shlokas, conduct pujas...all ceremonies including marriages, childbirth to death, are in Sanskrit. India is united by Sanskrit, which is the mother language sustaining so many languages in the country. It's growing and now even IT professionals are saying it is useful."

Sampath Kumar said his father Pandit Varadaraja Iyengar started the paper July 15, 1970. "When he was dying in 1990, he made me promise I would continue the mission, come what may. So this daily is now a dream mission continuing with the same passion and commitment, and I will continue till my death."

Priced at Re.1, the paper mostly contains articles on Vedas, yoga, religion and also politics and culture, among others.

The husband-wife pair are the paper's contributors and publishers rolled into one.

"Credit for starting Sanskrit radio bulletins on Akashvani goes to my father, who successfully persuaded the then information and broadcasting minister I.K. Gujral," Sampath Kumar said.According to him, Mysore is the Sanskrit capital of India, with a fairly good strength of scholars. A large number of yoga enthusiasts also come to learn Sanskrit here. Interest in ayurveda and alternative medicines has also led to an increase in the demand for Sanskrit learning centres.

In India, Sanskrit was considered the 'language of the gods'.

Despite the contribution Sanskrit has made to Indian philosophical and literary traditions, vested interests have spread the impression that the language is dead, inaccessible and of negligible relevance to daily life, Kumar said.

Initially printed manually, Sudharma now has a modern computerised printing facility. An e-paper too is available online, making its reach international.

"We have lots of subscribers among the minorities also. Most academies and language centres are our subscribers. Each morning, the two-page tabloid-sized sheet is folded and posted to more than 2,000 subscribers. Every year, a special number is brought out during Dussehra celebrations to mobilise funds to support the mission," Kumar said.

Lamenting the lack of official patronage, he said: "Being in Sanskrit, Sudharma never had sufficient revenue from advertisements. Despite the ample lip service and words of encouragement, no concrete help comes our way. But the constraints have never deterred us and we will continue to keep alive this glorious tradition."

The modest office in Agrahara has been visited by ministers, governors, Shankaracharyas, and other dignitaries. "Words of encouragement and felicitation has come profusely from prime ministers and presidents over the years," Kumar said.

He showed this IANS correspondent his vast collection of messages from politicians, scholars, intellectuals and business leaders, including late president Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, social reformer Jagjivan Ram, L.K. Advani, Arjun Singh and others. The common strain was that Sanskrit was a unique unifying force and a treasure to be preserved.

As part of its 42nd birthday celebrations, Sudharma is organising an all-India Sanskrit Book Exhibition. A photo exhibition is also planned, apart from a felicitation of Sanskrit scholars.

But will Sudharma be able to preserve the pristine glory of Sanskrit, or be overwhelmed by modernity?

Many university students this IANS correspondent talked to in Mysore had not heard of the paper. Just a few paces from the newspaper office, a chemist blinked in incomprehension when told about Sudharma.

The signs may be ominous, but perhaps the paper, like the language it is published in, may be able to survive the test of time.

___________________

About

History

Kalale Nadadur Varadaraja Iyengar, a Sanskrit scholar, launched this paper in the year 1970 with a goal of propagating the language. He was also a publisher of Sanskrit books and the Sanskrit moving types that were sometimes lying idle with him were another motivation for starting the newspaper. When he discussed his venture with others, he had to face the wrath of skeptics who warned him of his ‘misadventure’ and predicted the newspaper’s doom. This was because not many people believed that the Sanskrit language had a vocabulary sufficient enough to cover contemporary and complex day-to-day activities and developments. He was, however, supported in his venture by Agaram Rangaiah, who was an editor of a Kannada newspaper and also by P. Nagachar, who was a former Joint Director of Information. Ignoring the skeptics, Varadaraja Iyengar published the first issue of Sudharma on July 14, 1970 from a location called ‘Ganapathi Totti’ in Maharaja’s Sanskrit College. He was also instrumental in starting a Sanskrit news bulletin on All India Radio by convincing I. K. Gujral, the then Minister of Information and Broadcasting in the Government of India. K. V. Sampath Kumar, the son of Varadaraja Iyengar, is the current editor of the newspaper. The paper is currently published out of a press in the # 561, 2nd Cross, Ramachandra Agrahara locality of Mysore.

Circulation

The majority of the subscribers of the newspaper are Sanskrit scholars and students. The paper has a daily circulation of about 2000 copies. It has an annual subscription fee of Rs. 300 (about $7) and is circulated via post to academic institutions, public libraries and to readers throughout India. The paper is also subscribed to by readers in countries like Japan and the U.S.A with an annual overseas subscription fee of $50. You can also subscribe online from here.

Current scenario

The profit gained by circulating the newspaper is negligible but Sampath Kumar wants to continue publishing the newspaper because of his passion for journalism and the Sanskrit language. He has had to struggle to keep the publication afloat. The paper has also helped its readers to learn and improve their knowledge of the language. On 15th July 2011, the 42nd anniversary of the paper’s publication was celebrated in Mysore. A unique feature of the celebration was that all speeches were in Sanskrit, which is a rarity, and two Sanskrit scholars were honoured on that occasion.

A key player behind the historic India-US civilian nuclear deal and former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, Anil Kakodkar, said on Saturday that the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG), wants to amend its rules in an attempt to force India to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

“This is obviously their agenda,” said Kakodkar, after speaking to over 400 students and faculty members from 30 city colleges on Saturday at RD National College, Bandra.

The NSG, which currently has 46 countries as members, was set up after India exploded its first atomic device in Pokhran in 1974.

The latest guidelines state that only those countries which have signed the NPT will be entitled to obtain enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) technologies. This has upset India because at a meeting of the NSG in September 2008, India had got an unprecedented “clean waiver” which allowed it to buy such technologies despite not being a NPT signatory.

Currently, India has four enrichment and reprocessing facilities, but it has to import these technologies for expansion of its nuclear programme. “India signing the NPT is out of question. We must ensure that whatever has been agreed upon, will only improve and not reverse the situation. We have to protect our interests. It’s a question of being a hard bargainer,” said Kakodkar.

Experts have already pointed out that if the NSG has its way, it will be a setback to the India-US nuclear deal, which allows India to participate in global nuclear trade. While the new rule does not bar India from getting foreign nuclear reactors, it will prohibit the transfer of critical ENR technologies.

Cooperation on counter-terrorism and the evolving situation in Afghanistan are among a host of key issues set to be taken up at the high-power India-US strategic dialogue, to be held in New Delhi on July 19.

Issues relating to the nuclear waiver for India, defence cooperation, economic ties and an upcoming bilateral education summit are all likely to feature in this second round of strategic dialogue.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who co-chairs the meeting with External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, will be arriving in New Delhi with a team of senior officials drawn from various departments of the Obama administration.

“The depth of the US-India strategic dialogue demonstrates the United States’ strong support for India as an important actor on the world stage and is representative of the broad and multifaceted US-India relationship,” a State Department announcement said.

It spoke of the expanding partnership between the two countries that now cover "issues ranging from counter-terrorism and defence cooperation to climate change, high-tech trade and scientific innovation".

Clinton’s two-day visit will also take her to Chennai, said to be the first visit by a serving Secretary of State to the southern metropolis which, the announcement noted, has "emerged as a hub of trade, investment and people-to-people engagement that is driving the US-India relationship”.

Previewing Clinton’s visit and the strategic dialogue, Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake said the US and India have come a very long way in the last 10 years. “We’ve built up our bilateral cooperation. We’ve begun to cooperate at the regional level where we have a terrific dialogue on all of the regional issues that India and the United States confront,” he said, during a web chat with a group of reporters from Washington and New Delhi.

Strategic partnership with India now involves working together on such big issues as non-proliferation and climate change, he said, adding: “And this year I think we’re going to really take it to the next level by talking about important issues like our cooperation in Afghanistan, important issues like how we expand our cooperation in Asia.”

Blake’s comments were being viewed with significance against the backdrop of the US’s plan to begin this month its phased pullout of troops from Afghanistan.

In reply to a question, Blake said the US will continue to work very closely with India through the Afghan transition process that envisages Afghanistan assuming responsibility for its own security by the end of 2014.

“I expect this will be a very important part of our strategic dialogue consultations,” he said, stressing that the US's troop withdrawals for now are relatively modest. (Obama’s plan envisages withdrawing 10,000 US troops by the end of this year, another 23,000 by the summer of 2012 and the remaining 70,000 troops by 2014.)

On counter-terrorism cooperation, he said: “This is a very high priority for the United States to look with our Indian friends to ensure they have the best system possible to prevent future terrorist attacks such as the terrible attack that occurred in Mumbai in November 2008.”

Preparatory to the strategic dialogue, the two countries recently had a successful homeland security dialogue in New Delhi that was co-chaired by Home Minister P Chidambaram and US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.

Blake, who responded to reporters' questions hosted a web chat with a select group of reporters in Washington and New Delhi, reiterated that the recent decision of the Nuclear Suppliers Group to strengthen guidelines on transfer of enrichment and processing technologies (ENR) will not in any way detract from the US's existing civil nuclear cooperation with India.

Pakistan presents the picture of a fractured nation and a failing state in mid-2011. Pakistan has presented this picture in the past many times over but was pulled from the brink by the United States by a providential coincidence of Pakistan Army reinventing its strategic utility to serve United States strategic interests and the United States readily exploiting the mercenary instincts of the rentier Pakistan Army.

The strategic utility of the Pakistan Army to serve United States strategic interests in the region has frayed particularly since 2007 and the United States going by the record of Pakistan Army’s duplicitous performance has belatedly realized that its policy formulations on Pakistan Army were grievously misplaced.

For far too long the United States policy establishment had labored under the misimpression that the key to handling and managing Pakistan to serve United States interests was the Pakistan Army and its Generals. This took place despite all the damning evidence to the contrary.

Whether the United States in mid-2011 cares to admit or not the ground realities in Pakistan suggest that the United States has been using the wrong key to manage Pakistan through the Pakistan Army. The Pakistan Army today has fully emerged in the open as not the solution to bring stability in Pakistan but it is the predominant part of the problem.

If Pakistan today is a fractured nation and a failing state then the full onus for Pakistan’s national failures rests squarely on the shoulders of the Pakistan Army. This is a hard reality that the United States policy establishment must realize and factor-in in their examination of options.

This Paper intends to examine the policy options open to the United States to manage Pakistan in the light of its impending disintegration:

United States-Pakistan Army Contemporary Relationship: The Widening Trust Deficit & its Implications

Pakistan’s Internal Political Dynamics: The Changed National Mood Against Pakistan Army

United States Fateful Policy Choices on Pakistan: Status Quo or New Beginnings

United States-Pakistan Army Contemporary Relationship: The Widening Trust Deficit & its Implications

The United States for over half a century never evolved or focused on any substantive political relationship in comprehensive terms with Pakistan as a nation-state. The United States policy approaches towards the Pakistani nation –state stood rested and based overwhelmingly on a strategic and military considerations -based United States-Pakistan Army relationship.

In 2011 the picture and state of United States-Pakistan Army relationship is dismal. Gone is the fizz which characterized this much vaunted strategic partnership and even the superficially contrived colorations given by the United States so far to this relationship stands today replaced by a yawning trust deficit between the United States and the Pakistan Army.

Media reports and analyses in the United States and within Pakistan abound testifying to this trend. It began more noticeably in 2007 and the tipping point was reached when the United States targeted liquidation of Osama bin Laden took place in the Pakistan Army major garrison city of Abbottabad in early May 2011.

In the wake of the Abbottabad operation by the United States Special Forces in which fingers stood pointed to Pakistan Army & ISI complicity in hiding Osama within a Pakistan Army major garrison cantonment for five years and Pakistan Army feigning no knowledge, trust deficit between the two strategic partners have gone into a tailspin.

More noticeably, the following need to be highlighted:

United States continues with its drone strikes despite Pakistan Army Chief’s declaration that the United States ceases to do so

United States has refused to vacate Shamsi Air Base from where US drone strikes are mounted

Pakistan Army border posts are being attacked from the Afghan side of the border, now for a change

United States has sidelined Pakistan Army from its direct talks with the Afghan Taliban

United States has withheld Coalition Support Funds to the Pakistan Army

For the first time calls are being made by US dignitaries/officials demanding greater accountability by the Pakistan Army.

The major implications of the growing trust deficit in United States-Pakistan Army relationship can be visualized as under:

Current indicators do not provide any optimism of United States attempting to retrieve the strategic partnership

Pakistan Army would increasingly play the China Card to offset strong US pressures for accountability and restricting inflow of US military and financial aid

Pakistan Army attempts to play the Iran Card against the United States

Pakistan Army returns to a greater proxy use of Al Qaeda and Taliban surrogates that it has nurtured against the United States and the West

Pakistan Army without a US leash may be tempted to resort to military adventurism against India to divert greater domestic loss of Army’s image

Pakistan’s Internal Political Dynamics: The Changed National Mood Against the Pakistan Army

Pakistan’s internal political dynamics in terms of the prevailing national mood has to be viewed at two levels, namely in relation to the United States and secondly the image of the Pakistan Army as it figures in the national mood in light of the developments of 2011.

Pakistan’s national mood in relation to the United Sates continues to be anti-United States as it has been ever sine 1979. The Pakistan Army can be said to be partly responsible for perpetuation of this sentiment especially the Islamic fundamentalist senior officers, both serving and retired.

However in the last two months after the Abbottabad and Mehran attacks one by the United States and the other by Pakistan Taliban with inside support from Islamists within the Pakistan Navy, the image of the Pakistan Army in public perceptions has nose-dived.

Unprecedently, the Pakistani public and the media are publicly castigating the Pakistan Army for failing to protect the sovereignty of Pakistan and associated intelligence failures.

All of a sudden in 2011 the Pakistan national mood is one of pronounced insecurity and vulnerability and the questioning whether the Pakistan Army can safeguard Pakistan against both internal and external threats.

Pakistan’s national mood indicates that this time around it may not be so simple for the Pakistan Army to bulldoze its way into Pakistan’s governance by a military coup. Since 2007 the street power of the Pakistani public has twice prevailed over the might of the Pakistan Army.

This is an ominous development in terms of Pakistan’s internal political dynamics and something which the United States needs to factor-in as it crafts its policy responses to wards a fractured Pakistan on the verge of state-failure.

United States Fateful Choices on Pakistan: Status Quo or New Beginnings

The United States in 2011 in relation to its policy choices on Pakistan stands at strategic crossroads in terms of the fateful choices it now has to make forced by massive changes in the contextual background which has overtaken this strategic partnership.

The United States can no longer brush under the carpet the yawning trust deficit that now divides it from the Pakistan Army. The United States can no longer also be oblivious to the reality that has emerged in 2011 that the Pakistan Army is no longer the glue that holds Pakistan together. Further can the United States convince its lawmakers that Pakistan Army has been a trusted ally of the United States and substantially delivered on all its strategic pledges to the United States made in return for US massive doses of military and financial largesse?

In such a contextual setting the United States has a fateful choice to make whether it should continue to perpetuate the status quo in its policies of Pakistan Army-centricism or has the moment finally arrived conclusively to steer its policy options towards newer beginnings in Pakistan.

Perpetuating the status quo in its approaches to Pakistan entails the United States continuing to be led by its nose by the Pakistan Army. With the Pakistan Army being in a state of serious disconnect with Pakistan’s national mood and in which it may as a cornered Army strike back and generate a civil war in Pakistan, it may be a horrendous choice for the United States to make.

Further such a policy choice if adopted by the United States would not be conducive or contributing to the United States attempting a long term partnership with Pakistan. Pakistan’s national mood for undiluted democracy devoid of any constitutional role for the Pakistan Army is an idea whose time has finally approved.

Fatefully therefore it become incumbent on the United States policy establishment and the US President to opt for newer beginnings in relation to its policy options. The Pakistan Army-centric policy approaches of the United States stand failed totally and any persistence in this direction would amount to “reinforcing failure”.

United States newer beginnings in its policy approaches towards Pakistan should incorporate the following key components (1) Restoration of undiluted democracy as a strategic imperative for the United States (2) United States providing unambiguous support and weightage for a civilian government in Pakistan (3) Pakistan Army be made to submit to civilian government and return to barracks. Failing which United States should cease all military and financial aid to Pakistan Army (4) Pakistan Army’s notorious intelligence agency ISI and terrorist surrogates of Pakistan Army be neutralized both by direct and indirect actions (5) Pakistan Army’s propensities for military adventurism against its neighbors be strongly dealt by the United States.

Needless to state that the United States possesses strong leverages to tame the Pakistan Army even in the event of Pakistan Army adopting adversarial postures against the United States following changes in US policies as recommended.

Concluding Observations

The United States under President Obama needs to craft newer beginnings in its policy approaches towards Pakistan. The Pakistan Army is no longer relevant and capable of serving United States strategic interests in the region. The Pakistan Army has proved itself otherwise.

The United States needs to learn the relevant lessons from the recent upheavals in the Arab World where changing political dynamics have rendered irrelevant the authoritarian and military or military-dominant regimes. People’s power swept away such regimes backed by the United States.

Coming to Pakistan, the eventuality of Pakistan peoples street power prevailing over the Pakistan Army in the near future cannot be ruled out and especially in light of the events of May 2011.

In terms of crafting policy options to deal with a fractured and failing Pakistan, the United States would be well advised to politically and economically invest in the people of Pakistan and their civilian democratic governments rather than a politically meddlesome Pakistan Army unworthy of US strategic trust.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

The ethnic groups in Iran territorially separated and the ethnic divisions are prominent, the case of ethnically inspired uprising is strong. The classic case is Baluchistan, a region populated with the Baluch people previously was a part of a sovereign state Baluchistan (1872) divided and combined into five Iranian administrated units.

I believe the fundamental ethnic conflict cannot be bridged by Iranian constitutional rewriting, because Iranian has never governed their state by rules of law and constitutional supremacy. The long period of autocratic rules has radicalised the ethnic groups. For these reasons relation between groups and relation between groups and government are unbridgeable.

The movement for an independence Baluchistan has never disappeared. After the 1979 Islamic revolution the nationalist movement was overtake by the religious conflict, between Shiite Zaboli and Sunni Baluch.

Sistan and Baluchistan consist of two groups the Baluch Sunni majority and Zaboli Shiite minority in Baluchistan (Iran is a Shiite majority and bilingual and ethnically divided state) migrant (1904) brought into Sistan in order to reduce Baluch majority in the district of Sistan basin for military and political purpose. Today the province is administrated by minority Zaboli’s and they are over represented in every institution in the province.

The Baluch have no representation in the other four provinces where their land has been merged (1928). The dominance of the Shiite rule and other Persian in Baluchistan has weakened the representation of Baluch by these groups. The state sponsorship, coercion, and appointments to high places worked together to over represent the Shiite Persian. The most over represented people in Baluchistan are Zaboli’s. They are over represented in the security forces as well as judiciary and another economical institution.

Iran is consisted of many rival ethnic groups. But it is dominated by Persian and Turk, to secure the Turk loyalty they are strongly represented in the government institutions and army. To denial ethnic groups’ historical home land the state is carved into small administrated units with consequences that the ethnic groups are deprived permanently from the political power.

The theocratic rule, suppression, will transfer conflict from Baluchistan and Kurdistan region to the state level. There have been tensions over the allocation of resources and other benefits between Turk and Persian in the capital Tehran. The Baluch and the Arab have demanded creation of their own separate states, Kurd and Turk will shift their demand from federalism to an independent. The Kurd and Turk have experienced considerable ethnic tensions against each others.

The Zabolis Shiite minority in Baluchistan have benefited from centrally controlled state structure. Region is populated by large majority Baluch dispersed in the five administrative units with no representation they will fight back the injustices. Considering the Iranian internal and external phenomenon, it is possible for the Baluch to drive back Persian army and control their state. The violence is the product of longstanding Baluch frustration.

The regional autonomy or federalism,

The regional autonomy or federalism is unfair answer to self-determination and statehood. Fear of secession, Widespread a quest for an independent is difficult to dismiss, but federalism is not the answer. Federalism is for the central government to retain ultimate power over the Baluch.

The offer of an autonomy and federalism to the Baluch is possible in order to dismiss Baluch right to statehood and legitimate the occupation of Baluchistan by the Persian and Punjabi army of Pakistan and dispel the Baluch history for ever. The Baluch occupiers are willing to make concessions, only to solidify their power through creating a new central power inside Baluchistan.

The centre of power Pakistan has created in Quetta has failed, if the same attempt would have made by Persian will be unsuccessful. Because the Persian’s are not willing to give the smallest part of the power they have on Baluch away, Persian will revolts against whoever attempts to decentralise the power in Iran. A genuine decentralisation will be very unpopular among the Persian; a decision on decentralisation will fuse the Persian from different parties without risking their constituencies’ seats.

It is possible for the Persian to offer autonomy or federalism based on the character of nationalists uprising, but there is no guarantee, it is acceptable to the Baluch nationalist. Autonomy or federalism will be offered to Iranian ethnic groups after violence will have broken out. The success of secessionists will testify the weakness of Persian central power and fortify the secessionists will to fight on.

Tehran regime may devolve power to region without effect on secessionist. There is also chance that regional autonomy will reduce secessionist sentiment among unwilling secessionist. Federalism is very attractive if it is combined with policies whose effect has raised successful secessionist.

Secessionist is not attractive if it is mean abandonment of opportunities outside the home region.The Persian has opposed the Baluch separatism.The Persian has continued the practice of providing to Shiite villager from the Persian provinces with the opportunities in the administration, securities, business, in Baluchistan, while at the same time expending disproportionate fund on investment in their region in order to force them to settle permanently in Baluchistan.

On the other hand the Baluch population are not spread outside the Baluch region; they are not in lucrative opportunities and investment or the government subsidies that the Baluch would lose if they opted out from Iran. Iranian has failed to take any measure to specific interests that the Baluch have in undivided Iran.

Karachi stands in dangerof turning into another Beirut of the 1970s and 1980s if the Government of Pakistan does not wake up in time to the implications of the unending clashes between the Mohajirs and the Pashtuns, between the Barelvis and the Deobandis and between the Shias and the Sunnis.

2. Since the late 1980s, these animosities have led to periodic spells of ethnic and sectarian violence---almost amounting to a civil war. In the past, the situation was further aggravated by the ethnic animosity between the Mohajirs and the Sindhis. This animosity has since died down after the Pakistan People’s Party, which is largelyof mainstream Sindhis, took the MuttahidaQaumi Movement (MQM), the party of the Mohajirs, into the ruling federalcoalition in Islamabad and the provincial coalition in Karachi after the elections of2008.

3. The ethnic animosities have been compounded by sectarian animosities arising from the fact that the Mohajirs and the Sindhis largely belong to the more tolerant Barelvi sect of sub-continental Sunni Islam whereas the Pashtuns are largely the followers of the more intolerant Deobandi-Wahabi sects. The fact that many of the Mohajirs, who are the migrants from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Gujarat provinces of India, have a large number of highly educated and prosperous Shias in their community has made the problem more complex by making them frequent targets of the extremist Sunni elements belonging to organisations such as the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Lashkar-eJhangvi.

4. The animosities of the past arising from ethnic and sectarian factors have been aggravated by fears of a change in the demographic composition of Karachi. Before 1947, Karachi was a Sindhi city. After Pakistan was formed in 1947, it turned into a Mohajir city, due to the large influx of Barelvis and Shias from India.Mohajir means refugees. These are the refugees from India.

5. Since 1947, Karachi has been a city of refugees. Initially, it is the refugees from India (the Mohajirs) who dominated the politics and economy of the city, gradually reducing the Sindhis to an urban minority.

6. Since the trouble erupted in Afghanistan in the 1980s, there has been a continuous influx of Pashtunrefugees into Karachi--- initially from Afghanistan as the fighting between the Afghan Mujahideen and the Soviet troops gathered momentum and subsequently after 9/11 from Pakistan’s Pashtun belt in the Khyber-Pakhtoonkwa (KP) Province and the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) as Al Qaeda and Taliban set up their safehaven in the Pashtun belt.

7. As a result of this steady Pashtun influx, there is a danger of Karachi one day turning into a Pashtun city. There has been no official census of the different ethnic groups in Karachi. It is believed that the Mohajirs are still the largest single ethnic group in the city, but as the number of Pashtun refugees increases, the Mohajirs fear they may be reduced to a minority in the years to come. Karachi is already the largest Pashtun city in Pakistan, with even more Pashtun population than Peshawar, the capital of the KP province.

8. It is the fear of an eventual Pashtunisation and Wahabisation of Karachi that has made the Mohajirstake to violence to stop the flow of more Pashtuns from the Pashtun belt and to counter their growing hold on the Karachi economy. The Pashtuns, who migrated before 9/11, are largely the supporters of the moderate Awami National Party (ANP), which is in power in the KP province and is a member of the ruling coalition in Islamabad. The MQM alleges that many of the Pashtuns, who have been migrating since 9/11, have sympathies with the Afghan and Pakistani Talibans. Despite this,theANP has been taking up their cause because of the ethnic affinity.

9. This has added a political dimension to the violence with the MQM trying to counter the presence and influence of the ANP in Karachi, despite its reputation as a party of moderate Pashtuns.

10. Karachi has been seeing eruptions of ethnic and sectarian violence from time to time for over two decades now. It has taken a disturbingly virulent form since last year.

11. According to the “Daily Times” of Lahore of January 1,2011, during 2010, at least 705 people, including 488 political and religious leaders and activists, fell prey to targeted killings in Karachi. In addition,74 others died in explosions all over Karachi during the year. As against 779 people who died due to ethnic and sectarian violence in Karachi during 2010, only 427 people died due to the acts of suicide terrorism by the Pakistani Taliban in the entire non-Pashtun belt of Pakistan and 797 in the Pashtun belt. This would give an indication of the seriousness of the situation in Karachi, which is considered the economic capital of Pakistan. The situation in Karachi has been as serious as that in the Pashtun belt and much more serious than that in the non-Pashtun belt.

12.This virulence has aggravated further this year resulting in over 1000 deaths since the beginning of this year, with over 100 deaths in the last five days. From targeted killings of each other by different ethnic and sectarian groups, it has degenerated into a Beirut-like situation with the use of more and more sophisticated weapons by the fighting groups and attacks on infrastructure such as electric transformers and electricity supply lines. Whereas in the past, mainly individuals were targeted and killed, now there are group clashes in different areas which have resulted in many internally displaced persons moving from one area to another seeking protection.

13. The situation has serious implications because of the fact that Karachi is the economic capital of Pakistan and has the only satisfactorily functioning majorinternational port catering to the external trade of Pakistan. The continued flow of logistic supplies, which come by sea, to the NATO forces in Afghanistan, would depend on a satisfactory internal security situation in this city.Moreover, Karachi has the only major naval base of Pakistan.

14. Despite these factors, the Government of Prime Minister YousefRazaGilani has been ineffective in restoring law and order despite the fact that the MQM and the ANP were its coalition partners till now. Recently, there have been unconfirmed reports of the MQMhavingleft the coalition due to the postponement of elections to the Assembly of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir from the Kashmiri refugee constituency in Karachi. Mr.Gilani has, however, denied that the MQM has carried out its threat to leave the coalition.

15. Some analysts in Pakistan look upon the recent spurt in violence in Karachi as an attempt by the MQM to intimidate the Federal Government into conceding its demands. Whatever may be the truth, the fact is that the situation in Karachi has been going from bad to worse. If this continues unchecked and unattended, the two Talibans may be the ultimate beneficiaries. ( 6-7-11)

After 64 years of hating, distrusting and wishing ill of each other, have India and Pakistan started learning to like each other?

Things seem to be changing.

Glacially, bien sur.But changing all the same.

If you concentrate intensely, you can feel the change under your feet.

We are still harsh to each other, but not as harsh as before.

We still distrust each other, but not as intensely as before.

We still talk ill of each other, but not with asmuchvenom as before.

We still hail the discomfiture of each other, but not with as much glee as before.

We still demonise each other, but not with as much pleasure as before.

The lingo is changing for the better, though one is not certain how long this would last.

Read the recent remarks of Smt.NirupamaRao, our outgoingForeign Secretary, on Pakistan and terrorism.

As forthright as always, but not as rudely condemnatory as in the past.There is a willingness to look at terrorism in a broader sub-continental perspective than in a purely national perspective.

Read the recent remarks of Prime Minister YousefRazaGilani of Pakistan at a seminar. “India is our most important neighbour.”

No Pakistani leader would have had the courage to say so in public in the past, even if he felt so in his heart of hearts. The fear that one might stir up thehornet’s nest of anti-India fundamentalists would have inhibited the open expression of any such feeling.

One could nowsense a feeling of confidence in the Pakistani political leadership that less negative statements about India might have greater public support than in the past.

Pakistan post-Abbottabad is not the same as Pakistanpre Abbottabad. There is an intense introspection regarding Pakistan’s relations with the US. India has been a conceptual beneficiary of this introspection

Questions not asked in the past are being asked now. Is the US a dependable friend? Is it wise to develop a dependence on the US?

Has the time come to have a re-look at Pakistan’s relations with India in order to reduce its dependence on the US?

Is it possible for India and Pakistan to get along with each other? Should one allow persisting differences over individual issuessuch as Kashmir and terrorism come in the way of a greater comfort levelin the over-all bilateral relations?

Keep discussing the differences over individual issues, but do not allow the persisting differences to continue to add venom to the over-all relations.

There is a willingness to project the bilateral relations in benign than in compulsively malign terms as in the past.

Is it for real or is it chimerical?

Is it durable or will it end like past rays of hope leading to even greater bitterness than earlier?

These are valid questions. One should not hesitate to pose them, but one should not allow these questions to continue to make us prisoners of the past.

It is time to think in terms of getting out of the clutches of the past and moving into the welcoming arms of the future.

Is this possible? Yes, if we continue to travel on the road of learning to like each other.

There are incipient signs of new thinking in both India and Pakistan. These signs must not be allowed to wither away.( 10-7-11)

July 07, 2011

At a time when the Communist Party of China (CPC) was directing all discussions in the print,TV and new media towardsits achievements during the 90 years of its existence,a section of determined netizens of the country operating clandestinely with the help of microblogs has managed to hijack the discussion and divert it away from a debate on the achievements of the party.

2. Instead, they have succeeded in drawing attention to the nervousness of the CPC over its future and over the effectiveness of its political control. They have done this by the simple act of spreading through microblogs rumours that Jiang Zemin, the predecessor of President Hu Jintao, as the President, the CPC General Secretary and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, had passed away in a Beijing military hospital after suffering a massive heart attack when he had come to Beijing from Shanghai to attend a gala function held by the CPC on July 1,2011, chaired by Hu, to mark the 90th anniversary of the party.

3.Of the leadership triumvirate of the pre-Huand post-Deng Xiaoping era, only former Prime Ministers Li Peng and Zhu Rongji attended the function.Jiang was conspicuous by his absence.

4. This set off rumours regarding the reasons for his absence. It has been known in China that Jiang, who is 84, has been in indifferent health for some months and was undergoing treatment in a Shanghai military hospital. Some months ago there were similar rumours of his death, which subsequently proved to be false.

5.At that time, one did not witness on the netthe kind of frenzied speculation and rumour-mongering as one witnessed this time since the night of July 5 after a Hong Kong newspaper, one of whose share-holders is reportedly related to Jiang, carried the first report of the possible death of Jiang.

6. The Chinese authorities were taken aback when discussions on the achievements of the CPC disappeared from many microblogs, which started feverishlyspreading rumours about the death ofJiang and searching for more information on the subject.

7. The microblogs have become the most important barometer of thestate of the Chinese nation. They have also become the most disconcerting whistle-blower in modern China which manage to disseminate politicallyinconvenient and militarily sensitive news circumventing the firewalls erected by the Ministry of Public Security and other measures taken by it to prevent the spread of potentially destabilising news through the net.

8.One had repeatedly seen the new power of the new media during sessions of the National People’s Congress and the party committees. More significant details of the deliberations came from the microblogs than from the party and government controlled publicity organs.

9. In the past, the Chinese authorities had dealt with this phenomenon in a mature way. They had sought to strengthen their control over the new media through appropriate technologies instead of arresting and harassing the people behind this phenomenon. But their nervousness over their inability to control this phenomenon remains.

10. When the Net rumours about the death of Jiang started spreading like wild fire, their first reaction to the rumour spread was to try to suppress it through technical means. The much simpler way of countering the rumours by telling the truth to the people or through an official denial of the rumours occurred to them only on the morning of July 7 when the Government-controlled Xinhua news agency disseminated a report denying the rumours. This was followed by a report carried by the HK newspaper marking its distance from its initial story.

11. These denials have not ended the prairie fire of rumours across the Net.The previous speculation was whether Jiang was really dead, and, if so, when, where and why he died. The latest speculation after Xinhua came out withthe official denial is why the Chinese authorities behaved in such a bizarre manner for nearly 48 hours before putting out an official denial. What explains their nervousness over the initial speculationregarding Jiang’s death?

12. Information about the health of ruling political leaders is always treated as a state secret in China. Mao Dze Dong and Deng died as leaders still wielding influence and authority at the time of their death.One could understand the nervousness that prevailed in the CPC as their death approached due to fears that their death could lead to a political turmoil inside the party as well as the country. This danger almost materialised after Mao’s death, but not after Deng’s.

13. Jiang is not a serving political leader. He is a retired leader, who has been ailing for some time and whose last public appearance was in 2009.There has been unverified speculation about his still retaining some influence in the CPC and hence being in a position to influence the post-Hu leadership even from his death bed.However, it is doubtful what kind of influence an ex-leader spending more time in hospital than outside could wield.

14. Still, sections of the CPC leadership were apparently worried over the possibility of a turmoil in the public or the party or both after his death and wanted to make sure that this would not happen before letting him die. There is a paucity of correct information regarding what has been happening in China.

15. Sometimes even a State-organised paucity of information could be the basis of a political assessment. One assessment that one could make is that whatever the rest of the world might say, sections of the CPC leadership are not certain in their mind that they are presiding over a politically stable country free of any potential surprises. That is the assessment that comes out loud and clear from the extreme nervousness of the CPC leadership over the Net speculation regarding Jiang’s health. (8-7-11)

While I was in my summer vacation and was to leave the camp next day this event took place which I could never forget both killed men and their father were very good friend of mine and were body guards of my father.

It was September 1988 at 3 PM two Mari crossed Helmond river bridge to sell some of their animals infect it was known as enemy territory because there the forest started and it was controlled by so called Afghan Mujahidin’s few locals tried to snatch the weapons of the two Marris and a hand fight started and then gun fires were heard worried about the situation father sent more Marri to get them back to safety but they were already taken to forest by the enemy.

Horror gripped the heart of those who went to save their friends, among the rescuers were one father and his son as the elder brother saw his younger brother lying on ground while they were behind trees and there was fierce gun fire from both sides. Caught behind bushes with continuous gunfire whizzing over their heads, the son asked his father if he could go out into the "no man's land" between the bushes to bring his fallen brother back.

"You can go," said the father, "but I don't think it will be worth it. Your brother is probably dead and you may throw your life away." The fathers’ words didn't matter, and the son went anyway.

Miraculously, he managed to reach his brother, hoisted him onto his shoulder and brought him back to their company's behind bushes. As the two of them tumbled in together to the bottom of the bushes, the experienced father checked the wounded son, and then looked kindly at his son. "I told you it wouldn't be worth it," he said. "Your brother is dead and you are mortally wounded.

"What do you mean by worth it?" responded the tearful father. "Your brother is dead."

"Yes ABA," the privately answered, "but it was worth it because when I got to him, he was still alive and I got the chance to hear him say....."ADA........... I KNEW YOU'D COME."

Many times in life, whether a thing is worth doing or not, really depends on how you look at it. Take up all your courage and do something your heart tells you to do, so that you may not regret not doing it later in your life..

Seeing his both sons dead in front of his eyes father could not resist this pain he identified the positions from where the fire was coming and stood the place where his younger son fall first and open fire at the enemy after finishing three magazines from his AK 47 he was killed by enemy fire he fell on same spot where he lost his both sons.

He was BHAVAL KHAN MARRI well known weapon mechanic or lohar in Balochi.

In that battle we lost 7 men killed and killed 25 enemy fighters. I should remind the readers that Pakistan frequently paid money to Afghans Mujahidin to attack Baloch camps in Afghanistan.

"A real brother or friend is the one who walks in, when the rest of the world walks out"

Baloch Statesman and de jure Ruler of Balochistan HH Khan of Kalat's speech at the South Asia Forum in Berlin, Germany.

July 5, 2011

By HH Khan of Kalat Suleiman Daud Ahmadzai

Baluchistan means the land of Baluch. It is situated at the eastern edge of the Middle East, linking Central Asian states with the Indian subcontinent and IndianOcean. Presently Baluchistan is divided into three parts under the occupation of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Baluchistan is an ancient inhabited land withmore than 5,000 years of history; it’s a land of contrast.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the history of Baluch people and Baluchistan has been the story of liberation, occupations, state building, nation building, struggle forsurvival and continuity. For millenniums, throughout the history of Empires, every empire had left its mark on Baluchistan: Moghul, Persian, Turks, Arab and British.

Empires have come and gone but the Baluch survived as a unique nation with distinction in character, language, homeland, culture and sense of belonging to theland called Baluchistan. The Baluch have defeated aggressors and empires. Today, once again, Baluchistan has been divided and occupied and we arestruggling once more to defeat the aggressors who occupied our county, enslaved our people and looted our national wealth with the help of multi-nationalcompanies.

The 1940s Islamic rhetoric failed to impress the Baluch. The Kalat National Party was a secular party and aligned with the Indian National Congress. The KalatNational Party took signals from Mir Ahmad Yar Khan. The Khan of Kalat, with historical justification, rightly believed that Baluchistan was never part of India.

Jinnah accepted that Baluchistan was never part of India and signed an agreement. On August 11, 1947, Kalat Baluchistan declared independence. On 14thAugust 1947 Pakistan was carved out of India on religious grounds.

But in practice Pakistan never accepted Baluchistan’s independence and insisted on unconditional accession on the basis of shared religion. Pakistan hasignored the Baluch opinion.

Pakistan gave the status of states to three Kalat tribal chiefs: Kharan, Las Bela and Mukran, a Kalat district, and used its military to occupy Baluchistan on Marchthe 27th, 1948.

The reaction against the occupation was strong. The occupation led to many armed uprisings: the 1948 uprising led by Agha Abdul Karim, 1958 by Nawab NourozKhan, Mir Lawang Khan, Mir Ali Mohammad Mengal and many others, the 1965 Muree uprising under the leadership of Mir Shero Muree and Mir Hazar Muree, the1970s uprising and now the present one.

The annexation of Kharan, Lasbela and Mukran were illegal and has no legitimacy. The relationship between Baluchistan and Pakistan is an exercise of power bythe Punjabi over the Baluch. The world has been tolerating the illegitimate use of force and the illegal occupation of sovereign Baluchistan.

The rest of the history of Baluchistan under Pakistani occupation has been one of broken promises and the pains of mothers whose children are missing. Thestory of Islamic Pakistan for the Baluch has been the pain of more than 10,000 missing persons at present who are suffering in illegal detention centres and thepains of mothers, fathers, daughters and wives who do not know if their loved ones will ever return home alive.

The indiscriminate bombing of villages has forced more than 300,000 thousand Baluch to abandon their homes. The international community and humanitarianorganisations are prevented from visiting the IDPs. The Pakistan government will not allow any aid to be given to the IDPs by international humanitarianorganizations.

Selig Harrison describes the situation Baluchistan as Slow Motion Genocide. The international community and peace loving people of the world must act now tostop the genocide in Baluchistan. What we want is for Pakistan to respect Baluchistan sovereignty. Pakistan must withdraw its Army, Frontier Corp and Frontierforce from Baluchistan.

July 06, 2011

After the suspected bugging of the office premises of the Finance Minister in the power-centre of North Block I was requested by several electronic and print media to offer expert opinion. As I know the NB corridors and the premises of the FM I formed certain conclusions: It was an amateur job as intelligence agencies do not leave behind footprints; bugging was done during the budget framing period; it was done by some corporate house; it had insider collaborators who provided access and a place within 100 yds to sit comfortably and record the transmissions by the intruder. Micro radio/video bugs can transmit to a distance of 100 yds. Their functional life is about seven days, unless a bulky extra package is attached or connected to main power line. The government was not happy with the opinion and some unseen spook hijacked my mobile phone for seven days. Service was restored after I gave an ultimatum to the service provider.Bugging is a branch of Electronic Intelligence belonging to the genus of Technical Intelligence. Technical Intelligence is a vast subject. It encompasses Technical Intelligence (TechInt), Electronic Intelligence (ElInt), Communication Intelligence (ComInt), Signal Intelligence (SigInt), Human Intelligence (HumInt) and Computer Intrusion Intelligence (CominInt) etc. In popular perception TechInt means use of technical gadgets in collection and production of Intelligence. This is only a part of the complicated game. Some intelligence are derived from the collection, processing, analysis, and exploitation of data and information pertaining to foreign equipment and materiel for the purposes of preventing technological surprise, assessing foreign scientific and technical capabilities, and developing countermeasures designed to neutralize an adversary’s technological advantages.

Scientific and Technical Intelligence include collection process through all conceivable means of tradecraft, evaluation, assessment, precise conclusion about military, economic planning, defence production facilities, industrial infrastructure used in defence related industry and research and development activities of potential and real enemy countries. The end result is shared with the policy makers at political level and the various branches of political and defence wings. Technical Intelligence also includes Economic Intelligence.

The production of technical intelligence includes collection through open and clandestine sources, reports from own embassy about military hardware and preparation of reports and documents for the Military command and the national defence policy makers. TechInt documents include a wide range of materials prepared by scholars appointed to study defence preparedness of a target country, preparing military inventory of that country and preparation of manuals on military equipments of the target country. For example the Indian defence establishment prepares exhaustive scientific data based reports on new fighters, bombers and air to earth missiles acquired by China and Pakistan. Most of the data about Pakistani acquisitions from the US sources are known. But subsequent modification by Pakistan, specific to Indian targets are difficult to obtain. In such cases clandestine procedures are adopted as per tradecraft prescribed by the concerned agency, i.e. the Directorate of Air Intelligence.

India does not have elaborate establishments in the Armed Forces and civil intelligence establishments for gathering strategic Technical Intelligence. Very little efforts were made to appoint bodies of researchers to study technical data and formulate manual about weapons holding by deemed enemy countries, especially nuclear warheads, delivery mechanism and China’s latest air power acquisitions and establishment of new bases from where China can target important Indian targets.

Compared to India the USA has elaborated Technical Intelligence gathering mechanism. These are:

A.The Missile and Space Intelligence Center is a unit of the Defence Intelligence Agency.B.The Armed Forces Medical Intelligence Center is a unit of the Defence Intelligence Agency. AFMIC is the only organization in the world with this comprehensive medical intelligence mission.C.The National Ground Intelligence Center is a subordinate branch to the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command. The NGIC provides scientific and technical intelligence (S& TI) and general military intelligence (GMI) on foreign ground forces in support of military commanders, force and materiel developers, Department of the Army, Department of Defense, and National-level decision makers.D.The National Air and Space Intelligence Center is subordinate to the US Air Force, Air Intelligence Agency.E.A section in the Office of Naval Intelligence handles technical intelligence activities for the US Navy. Those activities were formerly carried out by the Naval Intelligence Service and by its successor the Naval Technical Intelligence Center.F.Besides these military units The National Security Agency takes up scientific and technical analysis on foreign communications and communications security equipment, as well as foreign research in these areas.G.The CIA is also authorized to collect Technical Intelligence and Economic Intelligence, which is considered as a part of Technical Intelligence.

In addition to the above, according to the US National Counterintelligence Executive (NCIX), 108 countries tried to obtain US technology during the fiscal year 2005. Most of the effort, however, centered on a small number of countries like China, Russia Japan etc. In the USA systematic collection of intelligence about theft of technical data by foreign countries was systematically started in 1997. Some methodologies adopted for such intelligence collection may include:

A.Stealing of economic and technical data is rather common operations that exploit business relationships, marketing and sales phase. There are also efforts targeted at individuals with sensitive knowledge.B.Such intelligence is generated often by asking companies for classified, sensitive, or export-controlled information. In some cases, a single would-be foreign buyer sent out multiple requests to a variety of US companies, searching for a seller willing to ignore or bend export-licensing requirements.C.Joint ventures are often used to bring intelligence collectors in contact with people or facilities with sensitive informationD.Offering support services to facilities established with foreign collaboration can camouflage intelligence operators to gather clues about all sorts of manufacturing details. .E.Conventions and trade shows offer scopes for gathering economic intelligence. It can be quite easy to enter a show for the industry only. It is not difficult to fake documents to access entrance and examinations of the wares displayed.F.Use of spyware or other malicious hacking techniques to penetrate information systems of foreign governments and sensitive industries are normal practices of the western countries and the Russian federation. In case the USA succeeds in hacking the website of China’s missile system the Chinese may not know about the operation for a long time.

Most industrially advanced countries like Russia, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Germany, France etc are involved in collection of economic intelligence as a part of Technical Intelligence. The famous case of Dr. A Q Khan of Pakistan stealing nuclear technology data, sharing it with China and manufacturing uranium enriching plants and making nuclear bombs for Pakistan is a recent classical case. The storm over “open nuclear marketing” by Pakistan to North Korea, Iran and Libya is still raging the world. The events are even endangering global security with the distinct possibility of the jihadi terrorists accessing the nuclear arsenal of instable Pakistan.

India has taken steps to set up the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau of India, an apex body to coordinate gathering of economic intelligence, detecting economic offenders in collaboration with different economic intelligence and enforcement bodies and with the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Intelligence Bureau. It also acts as a Secretariat of the Economic Intelligence Council which acts as the apex body to ensure full co-ordination among the various agencies.

The Economic Intelligence Council of India was formed to facilitate coordination amongst the Enforcement Agencies dealing with economic offences and ensure operational coordination amongst them, a two tier system has been established by the Government of India with an Economic Intelligence Council at the Centre under the Chairmanship of Union Minister of Finance, and 18 Regional Economic Intelligence Committees at different places in India.Among the non-government bodies two agencies are worth mentioning. International Market Assessment (IMA) India provides business enterprises with strategic research, business intelligence and market insights together with sound independent advice on various aspects of the operating environment. Established in 1994, the firm offers four broad service lines built around the objective of delivering authentic, analytical and practical insights to country managers and other senior executives.

The Economic Intelligence Service is designed to present an analytical macroeconomic view of the Indian economy. It brings out a Monthly Review of the Indian Economy. This approximately 100-page document provides CMIE’s view on the Indian economy. It contains forecasts on Indian economy and presents the most regularly updated statistics along with descriptive analysis for a range of lead economic indicators.

For Technical Intelligence management the National Defense Intelligence College of the USA offers courses in Master of Science in Technical Intelligence. This program enables the students to know the global context that shapes the world system and understand the complexity, velocity, and interdependency of world issues and events. The core curriculum is designed to have students develop global awareness, and understand how historical, economic, cultural, political and social contexts affect intelligence and national security. Such understanding is essential for a program founded on the premise that world events can only be understood by employing a variety of disciplinary perspectives, and that they must be understood in a global, regional, and local context. The students are required to be graduates. All prospective NDIC students must be U.S. citizens who are members of the U.S. Armed Forces or federal government employees. Additionally, the students must possess security clearance.

The Indian Army also recruits soldiers (10+2 qualification) for Technical cadres. The other major direct recruitment is Indian Army Technical Graduate Course for which an engineering degree in different disciplines can only qualify to be recruited. This cadre of officers is assigned to The Corps of Engineers. These officers are not designed after the Master of Science in Technical Intelligence of the USA.

Among the civil intelligence agencies the Intelligence Bureau and the RAW recruit officers equivalent to the ranks of Sub-Inspector of Police, styled as Assistant Central Intelligence Officer (Grade II), Technical. Rarely some recruitment is also made to higher ranks. However, these officers do not perform the duties of aggressive gathering of Technical Intelligence, as the terminology has been defined by the global intelligence agencies. They are assigned to certain areas of ElInt, SigInt, ComInt and other branches of TechInt. They are generally designed to assist the general duty intelligence officers in running operations where electronic and similar gadgets are involved and also in Signal Intelligence management.

TechInt is heavily dependent on HumInt, ElInt, ImInt, SigInt, ComInt, MasInt and CominInt (computer intrusion intelligence) etc branches of tradecraft. TechInt, as the subject is commonly understood in India is a part of the intelligence cycle, the process through which intelligence is obtained, produced, and made available to users. We propose not to discuss the military aspects of the TechInt, but incorporate in this discussion the interrelations of ElInt and HumInt. In its proper implication, an ElInt expert is an intelligence operator who operates electronic monitoring and related equipment to detect electronic emissions: conducts continuous search and monitoring of assigned portions of radio frequency spectrum, using special search or monitoring equipment. He observes video presentations or listens to signal to determine primary characteristics of monitored signals. The expert operates cameras to photograph signals, operates recorders to record signals, determines azimuth from which the signal originated, using direction finder procedures. He determines accurately and rapidly parameters, directional bearing, and point of origin of electronic data recorded on photographic film and magnetic tape through operation of technical laboratory analysis equipment, such as electronic parameter display consoles, oscilloscope, electronic counters and sorters, X-Y plotters, sonographs, visographs, brush recorders, video and audio playback units, complex viewers, visual projectors, and associated analog and digital equipment.

The description given above cannot be found in one person. Several expert operators work in assigned fields and the data obtained are processed and assessed by the hierarchical experts and the final product is shared with the HumInt analyst and controlling authority. Utilization of the data procured and processed is subject to directions of the hierarchical chief. Very sensitive information are immediately shared with the political policy maker, as in the case of satellite phone talks between General Musharraf and General Ziauddin Butt, the ISI chief intercepted by an Indian intelligence agency, which clarified amply to India and international community that General Musharraf had plotted the surprise attack on India in Kargil sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

ElInt has a broader connectivity with SigInt. However, in regular intelligence collection and collation through HumInt, certain electronic gadgets are used. In normal intelligence vocabulary in India use of such gadgets is described as ElInt, in aid to HumInt. In specialized application these electronic equipments aid to general information and data collection for supplementing HumInt efforts. Some of the electronic gadgets used in daily intelligence operations are: still and video camera, miniature-micro cameras with built in radio transmission, miniature audio/radio signal emitting bugs, hand held micro document copiers, bug detectors, miniature GPS bugs and miniature voice recording devices etc.

Use of still cameras, normal, miniature and special resolution lens cameras and infrared cameras for night shooting capability are usually used to take close up, long focus and nighttime photographs of suspects. Conventional cameras have several disadvantages. The shutter noise even in a SLR digital camera can be heard by people standing nearby; often flash is used in case the subject is located in dim light area. However, India’s hope for silent cameras eluded the intelligence community for a long time. Certain research organisations in India were tasked (DRDO and IIT included) to produce noiseless cameras. However, in global market quite cameras like Rollie 35, Leica M7 and Hexar-AF etc are available and are popular. Certain Cell Phone cameras are also noise less. However, the US Congress has deliberated on a Bill to ban silent Cell Phones. The Mobile Phone Predator Act (Bill HR 414) was introduced in the Congress on 01.09.2009 sought to ban noiseless Cell Phone cameras.

Standard cameras are used to photograph a static subject or a counter intelligence subject with a camouflaged camera. Camouflaging devices are adopted to suit the location and occasion. The standard practice is to camouflage a miniature camera in a briefcase, lady’s purse with automatic switching facility. Once pressed, the camera can take photograph every 3 to 5 minutes, as per predetermined timing set by the technicians. Certain miniature digital cameras can be concealed in pens. Few illustrations are given below. These equipments can be still or radio transmitting video cameras. In private detection work some such fancy miniature cameras are in use. Use of such cameras in the intelligence agencies is rather infrequent due to paucity of the gadgets and lack of training of the intelligence generating general duty officers. The problem in Indian agencies lay in the policy of watertight compartmentalization between the general duty and technical officers. The two cadres normally do not trust each other and very few general duty intelligence-generating cadres are adequately exposed to the use of such electronic equipments. Even most of the senior level officers coming from the police ranks (RAW cadre in case of the external intelligence) are not intensively exposed to the use of sophisticated electronic equipments. Such gaps between the two cadres often create difficulties in the application of ElInt equipments by the general duty officers.

Some micro cameras can be camouflaged in watch, keychain and pensUse of micro video cameras had immensely helped in concluding certain counterespionage operations. Individual XX was a serving technologist in a defence related research project developing and manufacturing certain kinds of ground to air indigenous missiles. A static surveillance near the work premises of XX noticed his habit of leaving office late in the evening between 8 and 9 pm, while most other employees left latest by 6.30 pm. Mr. XX was in the habit of taking a private bus to his residence in a south Delhi location. One late evening he was noticed taking lift from a Delhi registered car. This was repeated on five occasions. After dropping XX near his residence the car generally moved around in different parts of the city. On a lucky day a static surveillance team noticed the car entering an embassy through the rear side family gate. This pattern was confirmed after 6 sightings. The operations desk decided to use an infrared still camera with night vision facility to take photographs of Mr. XX while entering and exiting the car. The Car driver was also snapped on three occasions. After analyzing the data it was decided that a senior officer would accost Mr. XX and record the conversation. Mr. XX was approached during lunch break when he visited a nearby eatery. He was shown the photographs of his entry and exit from the questioned car and the photos of the driver, who was identified as a non-diplomat employee of the embassy in question. Mr. XX caved in. He was taken to a safe house and interrogated. A wristwatch video camera was used that radio transmitted the interrogation sessions to a nearby video recorder placed in an adjacent room.

During interrogation Mr. XX broke down and admitted on video recorder that he was trapped by the foreign spy on the lure of money which he badly needed to marry off his three daughters. Over three years he had earned about half a million rupees. He was allowed to go under advice that he should not betray any emotion and continue to take ride from the foreign agent. In the meantime, the seniors of Mr. XX were taken into confidence and he was shifted to some non-critical area. He was given option to cooperate by feeding doctored information to the foreign spy for some time. It must me mentioned that the “playback” operation was planned after the issue was discussed between the two ministers of the government handling internal security and defence matters. After several “playback” operations the foreign spy was neutralized and sent back to his own country. Mr. XX was pardoned with caution for his collaboration with the agencies with some departmental punishment.

In another successful ElInt operation use of a micro pinhole video camera (no radio transmission but with audio recording facility) had helped an intelligence agency in documenting photos of top leadership of a Sikh guerrilla force and their hideout in a marshy location in Punjab. A Sikh operator having access to one of the guerrilla forces was induced to cultivate his friend and earn his confidence by supplying certain material benefits. Gradually he was given to understand that his friend could supply small weapons and ammunition to the guerrilla force, provided the friend could arrange a meeting with the chief of the force. A policy decision was taken to deliver two pistols as a taken to earn confidence of the top leader of the dreaded guerrilla force leader. The government was kept in picture. After the intelligence operative earned confidence of the chief by presenting two pistols he was granted passage to visit the main hideout in the marshy tract.

The Operations officer developed a unique idea. He tried out implanting a micro-mini pinhole video camera (no transmission, but with audio facility) inside the turban of the trusted operator. The recording time was for about 6 hours. After the trial was successful in simulated conditions the camera was implanted inside the turban and the operator was directed to proceed to the target area. The operator interacted with the guerrilla force chief and promised to deliver twelve pistols and 300 cartridges for an amount of rupees three lakhs. The deal cemented, a date was fixed for delivery of the weapon in a particular place of worship about three kilometers away from the hideout around 9 p.m. On the given day the operator approached the area and verified if the chief and his bodyguards were in position. After his signal was received the security forces surrounded the place of worship and after two hours gun battle the guerrilla chief surrendered with four bodyguards. For the first time a miniature pinhole camera was used camouflaging inside a turban. Later a few more operations were carried out using the same modus operandi.

The top decision maker of the government once directed that the hotel suite of a visiting foreign dignitary should be bugged and video camera should be used to monitor his activities. It was not known that a ‘charming mole’ was introduced in the game, who was also supposed to spend the night in the suite. Audio bugging was carried out in the guise of security checking of the room. Listening post was established in a nearby room. Since there was no opportunity to drill the walls to insert pinhole video cameras it was decided that two radio-capable video cameras would be installed- one camouflaged in the flower vase and the other inserted inside the frame of an artist’s fine depiction of a mountain peak. The end results were not analyzed by the operations team. These were passed on to the top decision maker for final consumption and likely future use by the political decision maker. It is not prudent to name the visiting foreign dignitary. Only comment that can be made that soon after his visit to India certain aspects of bilateral relations between the two countries improved vastly.

On another occasion an opportunity was offered to use a micro camera hidden in a thick Eyeglass Frames. The camera transmitted signals to a miniature recorder secured in an inner pocket of the blazer. The tiny camera operating on mercury battery could record for 3 hours. In western markets more powerful eyeglass frame mounted cameras are available. Some clandestine listening devices are also implanted inside calculators, palmtops and iPods etc.

Normal and miniature cameras have diverse utility in intelligence gathering and counterintelligence operations. The only disadvantage with micro video cameras is that battery life is limited and under favorable circumstances certain cameras can function for about 2 hours. A specific operation requiring constant video recording and transmission for 4day for 24 hours had presented a puzzle to an operating agency. After several research attempts it was found that the micro camera could be rigged and connected to an array of 6-nickel cadmium batteries suitably camouflaged inside a small honey beehive. Researchers collected a honey beehive by driving the bees away with smoke-torch. The hive was tooled to insert the battery pack and was concealed near the window ledge which provided a clear view of the main activity room of the subject under coverage; an intellectual suspected for his live connectivity with a group of terrorists. The fabricated battery served for the desired duration and the camera and the hive were removed after the operation was complete. The subject of coverage belonged to a northwestern state of India. The evidence gathered, it was reported, was able to neutralize the intellectual.

Besides use of photo technology, the intelligence agencies depend on radio bugs, both audio and video in ElInt operations. In recent times miniature radio-enabled bugs have revolutionized ElInt operations. Bugs are used to gain clandestine information from targeted subjects by implanting the electronic devices inside their homes, offices, cars and even on their person. Every intelligence generator is not trained in clandestine bugging operations. When an operation of this dimension is conceived by the operations chief and the controlling authority the Tech-ops operators are summoned and a compatible team is formed with personnel drawn from Int-ops and Tech-ops ranks. While the Tech-ops personnel should have the privilege to carry out the actual planting operation the Int-ops personnel maintain the right to decide where exactly the bug is to be planted, what camouflage would best suit the subject, décor of the room and accessibility. All such details are discussed by the operations chief and flexible decisions are taken with variable options.

Some bugs are supposed to be permanent or for long duration. In such cases, practically in all electronic bugging operations the disguise should be given top priority. In long term bugging operations the miniature bugs can be secreted inside a wall mounted electrical socket or plug. Connected with main electricity circuit such bug lasts for infinite period till retrieved or neutralized by bug detectors. In certain applications miniature bugs were connected to decorated lamps, ceiling mounted decorative lamps, inside television sets and telephones. In such cases also the planted bugs, connected to main electric supply system function for indefinite period.

Some of the micro bugs used in such operations are shown in the illustration below:

Such bugs are not more than one inch dimension with inbuilt batteries, which can last for about 7 days, unless connected to main power supply with adaptable diodes and transistors. In an operation it was suggested that the main living room of the suspect required bugging for gathering sensitive information related to state security. Gaining access to the house and the room was rather difficult. Besides a housekeeper, presence of a vicious looking pet dog presented immense difficulties. An intelligence operator masqueraded as a domestic servant and over a period befriended the Garhwali housekeeper of the target. New to the area he was looking for a carpenter to repair some dining chair legs and a rocking chair that was dear to his master. Over a lunch the Garhwali was assured by the operator that he knew a good carpenter whom he would bring along when his master was out of home.

A trained carpenter was taken along to survey the room and the furniture. He suggested that at least two days would be required to fabricate the dining chair legs and another day for replacing the rocking chair foam covers. A deal was struck. Three dining chair legs of the original design were fabricated in which two miniature radio-bugs were implanted. These bugs could be switched on from a distance of 800 meters and switched off when not required. A compatible receiver was placed within 800 meters and the room conversations could be recorded. A similar device was implanted inside the wooden frame of the rocking chair also. Such micro trans-receivers operate on Ultra High Frequency and depending on battery life can function from 5 days to 30 days.

Micro bug (right) and receiver (left)

Some bugs are planted inside the telephone and mobile phones of the targeted suspects. The normal problem of gaining access is insurmountable. However, for an ingenious intelligence operator it is not impossible to gain access even inside a defence installation. For line telephone two approaches are involved: gaining access to the target phone, replace with a similar phone treated with a bug or planting a bug in the lime-pair of the junction box or the line connecting the targeted phone.

Bugging mobile phones pose serious problems. However, there are software in the market that can listen to Bluetooth enabled mobile phones, Black Berry mobiles and laptop computers. Besides conversation SMS also can be intercepted from the targeted numbers. Where the Bluetooth enabled phones are not used, depending on accessibility thumbnail sized (Israel made) bugs can be connected to the SIM card for monitoring all calls.

While on cell phone monitoring we propose to introduce some novel innovations that have reached the market. The cell phone interceptor is one of the latest inventions introduced. The primary aim of developing this unit is to intercept or capture mobile phone conversations taking place around. The person with this unit can call and listen to the sounds and voices in his or her surroundings, and this works even if the target is not using his or her own phone. Hijacking a mobile number and using it by unscrupulous persons has become a common threat.

One of the most popular units ever introduced is the SecPro Cell Interceptor. It is one of the most effective GSM cellular interceptors that functions off-air. The SecPro is valued for several good features. In the first place, it possesses an intercept system that is very active. Notable about it is its characteristic of being non-detectable and highly performing. The unit can even be upgraded to carry a number of advanced capabilities. Other than that, this interceptor is powered with multi-channel and recording features.

Another model of a cell phone interceptor is the GSM Cellular Interceptor, designed with advanced monitoring features. This product is created to intercept cellular signals and traffic, and while SecPro is sophisticated in style, this too tops the list of the most advanced. Perhaps the best thing about this product is that it can be customized to fit certain specifications. Thus, users or buyers of this highly innovative technology can truly benefit from the capabilities that it has to offer, while enjoying the features they like.

There are many wonders in ElInt operations. The Wall Listening Device is a unique ElInt aid that can record room conversations from outside. This unique device is used to listen through walls. It is capable of listening through up to 20″ of solid concrete, doors, windows etc. The operator can also record by plugging in to recorder. This device is made for professional intelligence operators and is the top of the line for listening through the wall which allows the highest possible sound quality. However, if the wall is very thick and there is high pitch music in the room the interceptor may not wok ideally.

In some cases micro spy wireless Audio Bugs are planted in a target room. Most likely secreting spaces are green plant pots, picture frames and decoration piece. The wireless micro audio bug is a composition of oscillator transmitters and receiver. There is no need for GSM card and zero configurations. It works on fixed special FM frequency special signal transmission encryption so that other receivers are not listening to the audio signals. The actual size of the bug is half of the size of an AAA size battery. The radio broadcast can be picked up from a distance of 100 meters. Amazing miniaturized GSM Quadriband audio transmitter, for ambient locations such as vehicle or domestic room, remote unlimited audio surveillance are also used in advanced western countries. India is yet to introduce these sophisticated clandestine devices.

There are innumerable uses of ElInt gadgets for collecting and denying intelligence. One of the handy devices is Pen Microphone. This is better used along with a micro cassette recorder that is hidden inside the coat and a wire cleverly connects the pen microphone and the recorder. Some cassettes can record for 120 minutes. This instrument simplifies the intelligence requirement of clandestine recoding of interlocutions with a suspect.

In case it is not possible to gain access into a suspect location to plant a bug, the job can be accomplished by planting window bugs on the outside panel of the target room. The bugs are capable of picking up the sound waves and transmitting to a distance of 100 meters. The intelligence operators can physically handle a compatible recorder or a camouflaged recorder that switches on and off on receipt and tune-out of electronic impulses, can be secured inside a bush and can even be hidden in a green tree. Illustrated below are two typical window bugs which look like a beetle and a dragonfly. These bugs can perform for about 6 hours and given the security circumstances, can be retrieved and replaced.

Window Bugs

Besides such bugs there are sophisticated laser devices which can aim at a closed targeted window and pick up the vibrations and transmit to a receiver. Certain sensitive rooms are constructed with sound attenuation facilities. Some such rooms are designed to be rooms within a bigger room; thus providing buffer from snooping. In Delhi, it was noticed that a Persian Gulf country, while constructing its chancery building had provided complete lead-sheet wrapping of two rooms-the ambassador’s room and the room of the cipher handling and communication officers. Lead insulation of a room can minimize acoustic wave transmission.

The US government has prescribed certain standards for construction of highly sensitive rooms which are used for important project discussions. The federal government has several regulations for protecting sensitive conversations.They apply mostly to Secure Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIF) and are:

1.Defense Intelligence Agency Manual (DIAM) 50-3. Although this document is no longer the primary one related to physical security standards, the chapter on audio security notes the value of sound masking as a tool, but is not specific. This is the earliest publicly available document on the subject.

2.Air Force Pamphlet (AFP) 88-26, 1988. This document goes into great detail on the methods for creating sound attenuation around a secure room. However, it also states: “The employment of sound masking in wall voids, doors, windows, and overhead ducts may be a more economical technique to achieve acceptable transmission losses.”

3.Director of Central Intelligence Directive (DCID) 6/9 2002. This document is now the primary unclassified document on physical security in SCIF. Annex E pertains to “Sound Masking Techniques”. It states: “…systems are designed to protect SCI against being inadvertently overheard by the casual passerby, not to protect against deliberate interception of audio.” The author’s experience with secure masking systems suggests that the military and its contractors as well as other government agencies are more concerned about the deliberate listener. It is likely that a publicly unavailable document exists that provides guidance for this higher level of protection. The DCID document does note that sound-masking devices may be used on doors, windows, walls, and vents or ducts, where applicable. Unfortunately, the document erroneously permits music as the sole source of masking. Music can be beneficial only when used in conjunction with sound masking.

4.Gramm Leach Blily Act. In compliance with this law, all financial institutions must protect the confidentiality of customer information and guard against any threats to the security of such information.

No such regulations exist in India as well as for Indian diplomatic premises abroad.There are several sound-masking, sound equalizer and noise mixing equipments that can be used to minimize eavesdropping by intelligence agents and rival business competitors. The easiest means of denying eavesdropping facility is to play loudly a radio set to create ambience noise and continue the dialogue with at as low decibel as possible. In India, there are standing instructions in the intelligence agencies and defence departments about acoustic security. However, in practice, these rules are more breached than observed. It is known that certain foreign embassies in Delhi have ElInt and SigInt facilities to intercept cell phone, satellite phone, computer communication and even eavesdropping facilities.

There is no end of the wonder world of ElInt. There are certain radio bugs which can be planted in a suspect car used by the target. His conversations with any accomplice can be picked up by another intelligence agency car following at a safe distance of 200 meters. In a sensitive case of a suspect from Kashmir it was noticed that he was taking lift from a car belonging to a political leader. Under orders from controlling authority the target car was bugged and conversations between the suspect and the political leader were recorded for four days. As the conversation verged on threat to national security, the matter was brought to the notice of the political decision maker. It was learnt that adequate measures were taken to sensitize the Union Law Maker.

Complete body mounted bugs is listening device that is wired in the body of the intelligence operator. He can move around in the target location without any ostensible device in his hands, keep on recording conversations, and even live transmitting the same to nearby parked car. Dimension of the equipment is: 10х4х4 mm, operating time of the micro-headphone is 62 hours and service time of a micro headphone: 7000 hours. This convenient device has not been introduced in India. Instead, some enterprising officers hide a micro recording device on their body and tape the microphone to their hand, hidden under a coat. This is a cumbersome process.

Clandestine intelligence intrusion is basically a state activity, though many private players have started using ElInt equipments to serve private parties for economic intelligence, matrimonial discords, divorce cases, corporate competition etc matters. However, bugging the apparel or shoe of a suspect is basically in the domain of government agencies. There are two distinct equipments which can be used to track constant movement of a person on foot or in a car. On occasions coat buttons are substituted by similar buttons with concealed ElInt radio device that emit radiation through GPS system hooked up to a satellite. Such radiations are picked up by a central control room and surveillance teams are directed to pick up the subject. Similarly, GPS enabled micro bugs are inserted inside belts and shoe heels.

In an operation in Punjab a situation arose when a person enjoying confidence of the agency and also of the terrorist organisation was required to be deputed to a hideout in Goindwal area in Amritsar. The area skirted marshlands of the Harike Lake and could be approached on foot. It was decided that a GPS enabled bug would be planted inside the scabbard of the kripan (small sword) worn by the Sikhs. The purpose was to keep track of the person and rescue him if the terrorists kidnapped and detained him. After three days constant tracking the person returned to his launching base safely. In a similar operation a youth was won over and persuaded to join a gang going to Pakistan for training and collecting weapons. Since the kripan scabbard was a religious item of personal attire the same trick was applied and presence of the trusted youth was located in a forested area near Changa Manga near Lahore, where a camp was set up to train the Sikh youths. The gang was allowed to return to India without any encounter to secure safety and identity of the trusted youth. But the operation proved beyond doubt that Changa Manga was an important training facility of the Inter Services Intelligence set up for the Sikh militants.

For bugging a targeted car it is possible to insert a GPS enabled bug in the car of the suspect. Covert vehicle tracking can now be accomplished from the privacy of a computer using the new GPS Satellite system. The system consists of a GPS Receiver and Cellular Modem, which is fastened to the target vehicle with two strong magnets. Power is supplied either by a field replaceable battery pack which powers the system for approximately 5 days. It is also possible to install a GPS bug connected to the main battery of the car. The GPS enabled bug sends signals to the control room enabling the intelligence operators to track the suspect car. However, in western countries even trucking companies use GPS systems to locate their truck plying long distance hauls.

The wonderful world of ElInt does not end here. In the famous Coomar Narain espionage case (1985) several contacts of Narain in the office of the President of India, Ministry of Defence Production, Industry etc, of Coomar Narain used to steal official documents and visit a shop in Khan Market for copying. These photocopies were passed to foreign intelligence officers by Coomar Narain. One of the documents was accidentally spotted by an agency officer in the Khan Market shop. This initiated an intelligence operation and arrest of a number of suspects selling government documents to foreign intelligence agencies. These days a secret foreign operator need not go through the hassles of using photocopying machines in a commercial establishment. All that he has to do is to use a miniature photocopier that can be hidden in pocket. Ten A4 size papers can be copied in less than five minutes. There are various brands in the market. But the most convenient one is the illustrated pen photocopier.

This equipment is versatile and can be used for stealing, storing and physically carrying photocopies of bulky documents. Stored materials in laptop computers can also be copied by this equipment. It can be used as a USB.

The world of ElInt is full of surprises. Even as the spooks manage to eavesdrop, steal information with application of scientific tools there are tools that try to deny information and detect planted devises. The new Micro Audio/Video Bug Detector is a tiny but powerful RF vibrating detector small enough to be worn on body without being noticed. This tiny micro sized unit measures an amazing 2 1/8 inches long X 1 3/4 inches wide by 1/2 inch deep. It’s a full-featured dual bug detector that silently vibrates to alert about the presence of eavesdropping equipment. It can be used as a covert body worn detector with the included arm band or as a conventional bug detector to sweep a room or office. There are several brands of such micro-detectors in the western markets and in markets in Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

Body Wire Bug Detector

There are many excellent devices to secure phone calls. But to secure room conversation one needs the Acoustical Privacy Jammer. This device will protect instantly from a “bug” even if you did not detect it previously. It works by generating unfiltrable random white noise – desensitizing any microphone – based eavesdropping. It protects from tape recorders, shotgun microphones, wired devices, and microwave and laser pickups, all the eavesdropper hears is a loud hiss. One homemade remedy is using a radio set at loud pitch to deny any room conversation access to an adversary. This simple method was tried on many occasions in theatres of operation and proved to be successful. A typical acoustic jammer may look like a small buzzing box, illustrated below. However, in large scale jamming operations, say, jamming Pakistani radio and TV beams directed towards a section of Indian people can be locally jammed by using jammers of bigger dimensions with multi-frequency jamming capability of short wave, medium wave and VHF frequencies. Certain embassies in Delhi use jammers with a view to preventing suspected Indian efforts to use laser and radio beams for penetrating the firewalling of the audio facilities inside the diplomatic premises.

A versatile bug detector that is compact and is capable of detecting minutest radiation is now available in the market. This Bug Detector not only tells if a listening devices (bug) is present, LED bar-graph lets the operator zero-in on its exact location. It can cover radiation from 5 MHz to 2 Ghz! This item is popular in VVIP security operations and other sensitive locations. Some of the corporate houses have also adopted this compact bug detector.Super Sweep-Pro is a big equipment for bug detection. This Counter surveillance Probe/Monitor provides five of the “most desired sweep functions” in one package.

1. R.F. probe “sniffs” environment for hidden phone, room or body bugs, remote signals, computer, Fax or Telex transmitters, video transmitters, pulsed tracking transmitters, and even wide band frequency hopping or “burst” bugs.2. V.L.F. probe tests A.C. outlets, phone lines or suspicious wires for very low frequency “carrier current” signs.3. Auxiliary audio input enables it to listen to telephones or lines for “hotmikes,” hookswitch by-pass and “infinity” bugs, also unknown wires and cables can be tested for wired microphones.4. After a sweep, the alarm monitor guards against new devices brought in, remote control activation, or someone tampering with installed equipment.5. The 24-hour “evidence” recording output will store suspicious sounds on a standard cassette recorder while you are away.

This equipment can quickly and silently detect all major categories of electronic surveillance, including:

This equipment, it is learnt, has not been included in the inventory of Indian intelligence agencies. It is, however, not very costly intelligence-denying equipment. There are several brands of such equipments, but for the purpose of this volume this much is good enough to stoke the curiosity of the readers and professionals.

(Readers interest in the wonder world of intelligence may read my book: Intelligence Tradecraft-tools of Spy-Warfare, Manas Publications, Delhi)

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